Judge Judy: a way to privatize family court?

See the above link to a short Wall Street Journal profile of the quick-witted 72 year old Judith Sheindlin. It was written to announce the extension of her current CBS contract through 2020 at a presumably far higher salary than the $47 million she earned in 2014. Her show began in 1993, the same year that The People’s Court went off the air. Some of the other juicy tidbits of the article include the following:

*Her show is the highest rated 30 minute daytime program and has been for years.
*She credits her Brooklyn childhood with giving her the street smarts necessary to success.
*She started as a family court judge in 1982 and in 1986 became a supervising judge.
*She shocked her peers by allowing the press into the courtroom.

Since perjury is virtually never prosecuted in family court, it would take someone with Judge Judy’s street-wise skills to succeed in a privatized version of the court, which would at least allow the parents trapped in that morass to escape from the $30,000. in attorney fees that can be run up in just a two day divorce trial.